#STARFIELD AND SMITH HOW TO#

For all we know, you may have bought this book to while away the time on an air trip from New York to San Francisco, and so you may already have made up your mind to spend 5 hours with the book, and then throw it away.

Different people build different models, particularly when their circum- stances are different. Or better still, describe the model you used. Describe what you did in words, diagrams, equations, or whatever. We do not know how much time you will need! However, we are very interested in how you went about making your esti- mate. Did you read ahead expecting to find the answer? If you did, you are bound to be disappointed. Sometimes you will see a which will refer you to a minor task that we ask you to stop briefly and performĬHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING MODELS (AND THIS BOOK) 3 In this case we will give you 10 minutes and ask you to estimate how much time you will need to work your way through this book. Please do not read ahead, because that would diminish your learning experience, but try to do what we ask of you in the time that we allocate. Whenever you see a displayed, such as the one below the next paragraph, you should recognize it as our way of telling you that we want you to do something before you read further. A Predictive Model Suppose we really do want to know how much time we will need to devote to this book. Notice in particular that it is a model in which you, the reader, play a very active role. Look at it carefully and note the differences between it and Figure 1.1. Figure 1.2 is the model we used for planning the book. How well does the model describe this particular text? The answer to the first question is probably 'yes.' The answer to the sec- ond question is not very well.' As you will discover, we have not written this book in the standard textbook format. Is the model in Figure 1.1 useful for anticipating what one would find in most texts? 2. In this case we can ask two somewhat easier questions: 1. That heuristic says: If a question is difficult to answer, start by asking a somewhat easier question. What do we mean by the word 'good'? Do we mean that the model is 'true' in some absolute sense, or do we mean that it is valid' in the sense that it has been checked successfully against a range of cases (perhaps by choosing books at random from the shelves in a college bookstore)? Before we become too embroiled in the details of defining a good model, it might help to anticipate a modeling heuristic (or rule of thumb) that we will be meeting in due course.

Each chapter covers specific material in a traditional structured format Is it a good model? That is a difficult question to answer.

#STARFIELD AND SMITH HOW TO#

But it does have a purpose, namely, to anticipate what you expect to see and do with this book.Ģ HOW TO MODEL IT Chapter 1 TH Introduction Rationale for Book Brief Overview of Required Basic Material Chanter Chapter 3 TH Chapter 2 Theory WI Development of Concepts Worked Examples Exercises FIGURE 1.1 A pictorial representation of a standard textbook. It does not, for example, tell you how much time you should set aside for studying the book. The model is based on experience rather than the ory, and is descriptive rather than predictive. Figure 1.1 represents a rather modest model in the sense that it does not try to accomplish very much. If not, take a few minutes to draw your own representation of this book and how you expect to use it. It is quite possible that your model could be rep- resented by something like Figure 1.1. It is probably based on your experience with books in general and textbooks in particular. WHAT IS A MODEL? A Descriptive Model You almost certainly have a model in your mind that tells you what to expect from this book. Our objective in this book is to guide you through a modeling apprenticeship. Modeling is more like a craft than a science, and the process of learning should therefore be more like an apprenticeship than a course of study. This book is concerned with helping you learn how to model. In fact modeling is an integral part of problem solving in any discipline.

INTRODUCING MODELS (AND THIS BOOK) OUR OBJECTIVE Modeling is a method used in disciplines as diverse as microbiology and macroeconomics.

HOW TO MODEL IT PROBLEM SOLVING FOR THE COMPUTER AGE Anthony M.

Starfield and smith